The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has urged the federal government to focus on simplifying regulatory processes, providing incentives for innovation, and infrastructural upgrades, and ensuring consistency to foster an enabling environment for manufacturing growth.
This was as it identified infrastructural limitations, limited access to funds, technology, innovation, skill gaps, policy inconsistencies, regulatory hurdles, and global market dynamics as seven challenges inhibiting the growth of the sector.
The society in a communique arrived at the following discussions and symposium held during the just concluded National Engineering Conference, Exhibition, and Annual General Meeting, also observed the challenges associated with accessing funding that include high-interest rates, stringent collateral, administrative bottlenecks, multiple taxes, instability in foreign exchange, as factors, among others that hinder growth and investment.
Reading the communique on Friday in Abuja, the President of the society, Tasiu Wudil, highlighted the need to reduce the gross deficit in skilled labour to meet the demands of re-engineering the manufacturing sector, promoting competitiveness, and enhancing economic growth.
He lamented that the existing policy framework affects the re-engineering of the manufacturing sector to enhance inclusive growth and competitiveness and called for a proper review.
Wudil said, “Nigerian manufacturing sector faces challenges including infrastructural limitations, limited access to funds, technology, innovation and skill gaps, policy inconsistencies, regulatory hurdles, and global market dynamics.
“The conference observed the significance of human capital development to achieve sustainable growth and development in any economy. It also noted the gross deficit in skilled labour to meet the demands of re-engineering the manufacturing sector, promoting competitiveness, and enhancing economic growth”.
Wudil, while acknowledging recent efforts of the government to rehabilitate the Ajaokuta Iron and Steel Complex, called for the involvement of the engineering body to accelerate the reactivation, rehabilitation, and modernisation to drive the much-needed industrialisation of the country.
